Have you ever noticed how the price of a water bottle changes depending on where it’s placed?

In a warehouse club, it’s twenty cents in a pack of 24.

At a gas station, $2.50.

At the airport? $5.99—for the exact same bottle.

Same water. Same label. Same bottle.

The only difference? Where it’s sitting. Funny how that works, isn’t it? The very same thing, valued differently, just because of where it’s placed.

And maybe—just maybe—life feels that way too.

There are seasons when you’re standing center stage. Your name is known. Your work is applauded. You’re the $5.99 bottle in the glass case with LED lights around you. You feel valuable—because people say so.

But then come the quiet seasons. The forgotten corners. The overlooked efforts. The rejection letters, the passed-over promotions, the friends who stop calling, the prayers that seem to echo back in silence.

Suddenly, you feel like you’ve been shelved in the back of the warehouse. Same heart. Same gifts. Same soul. But now? You wonder if you’re worth anything at all.

If that’s where you find yourself today, listen to Jesus:

“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” —Luke 12:6

Did you catch that? Five sparrows for two coins.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says two sparrows are sold for a farthing (Matthew 10:29). But in Luke 12, it’s five sparrows for two farthings. Do the math—buy four, get one free.

The fifth sparrow was the throwaway. A bonus bird. Tossed in to close the deal. Worthless in the marketplace. Uncounted by the merchant. Forgotten by the buyer.

But not forgotten by God.

Jesus goes out of His way to say even that sparrow—the extra one no one thought about—is known, seen, and remembered by the Father.

And if He sees the forgotten sparrow, He sees you.

So whether you find yourself center stage or back shelf, take heart: your value was never up for debate. It was settled on a cross, sealed in a tomb, and declared forever when that tomb was found empty.

You still matter.

Not because of where you are.

But because of whose you are.